Dave Johnson of FT says that the GBP (the G2) is the best one of all single freq FT detectors on salt beaches here, even better than the T2, the F70, and the F75. He did NOT say it was better than a CZ though. I use a Fisher CZ or my old Compass R&C, they outdo other brands in the heavy trash up on the dry part on our beaches. Out in the wet I would use a PI or just a low priced cheapie, (ANY) PI, because pickings are slim there. Search the trails down to the beaches, the ones through the woods and brush and trees, they produce more goodies. Oregon is not swamped with thousands and millions of tourists like southern and eastern coastal beaches, but the pathways there get used a lot because it's usually the only way down to the beach..
On our beaches all-out depth is paramount because it is automatically reduced here, we have more difficult soil to work in than most of the rest of the USA. For example, my CZ reads around a #2 for ground balance here, but in Iowa or Ohio it reads a #6 to a #9, and in Texas or Florida a #7 to #8.
We need MAXIMUM, unadulterated, raw, unaffected, unabashed POWER in order to overcome our high magnetite, high hematite, our high black sand soil. Our salt beaches require a magnum load of power too so as to overdrive past the null point in our automatic circuitry parameters. Our depth capability is cut down to about half of other parts of the country's light-soil capability, and sometimes even more. It is not like the east coast or the shores of Texas (where I was born) where the soil is almost mineral free save for salt on ocean beaches. Luckily though the soil is communistic, we all get the same fairness of not being able to go real deep, we all are limited to the same degree.
My old Tesoro Silver Saber has found me the most goodies overall on Oregon salt beaches, but never deeper than 4", although that's because I used it the most way back then and it wouldn't detect past 4" anyway. There were more targets then too, LOTS more. I owned an ancient Garrett Deepseeker and it went down to 10 1/2 inches {in all-metal} on old rusty and corroded copper pennies on salt beaches, but those detectors haven't been made for years. In depth, the old machines were better than most of the new or newer ones, partly because of frequency, partly because of simplistic circuit design, and partly because of lack of toys(which rob the power). Most detectors only get down to about 7" on our beaches for coins now. I had a Sovereign, it worked alright there, but the CZ outdid it in heavy black sand, and black sand is found all over the Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Northern California beaches. On an area in part of the southern coast of Washington State not even one of all my detectors would work, they either went silent or just warbled at the black round shiny rocks all over the beach there. The whole beach was made of those rocks too. On a huge basalt boulder though the Sovereign did the best, but who hunts on basalt boulders? . If I wanted the {{{utmost depth}}} on our beaches I'd buy the Garrett ATX and I wouldn't turn back. It can discriminate somewhat too but it doesn't cherry pick well. Someone else has their own views too, so personally, I always try before I buy and I make up my own mind, and I don't let other people do my thinking for me either. Good luck to you..
